Broadcast TV Ratings for Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Fox finished in first place for the evening with a 11.5/19 household rating, 18.73 million total viewers and a 6.8/20 rating among adults 18-49.

Last Week:

Households – 11.8/19 rating [#1]

Viewers – 19.66 million [#1]

Adults 18-49 – 7.0/19 rating [#1]

8:00 p.m.: Bones (6.4/11 HH rating, 10.02M viewers, 3.2/10 A18-49) opened the evening for FOX in its now common first place position, despite the weekly dips among households and viewers. It compensated for those slight dips with an increase in the key A18-49 demo.

Week-to-week numbers:

Households – 6.7/11 to 6.4/11

Viewers – 10.56M to 10.02M

Adults 18-49 – 3.1/10 to 3.2/10

9:00 p.m.: American Idol (16.6/26 HH rating, 27.43M viewers, 10.5/27 A18-49) was a little weaker than last week, but still strong overall to take an easy first place among all main categories for the evening.

Week-to-week numbers (vs. 8:00-10:00 p.m.):

Households – 17.0/26 to 16.6/26

Viewers – 28.75M to 27.43M

Adults 18-49 – 11.0/28 to 10.5/27

CBS followed in second place for the evening with a 7.3/12 household rating, 11.09 million viewers and a 3.1/9 rating among adults 18-49.

Last Week:

Households - 7.3/12 rating [#2]

Viewers - 11.44 million [#2]

Adults 18-49 – 3.2/9 rating [#2]

8:00 p.m.: The season (or possible series) finale of Jericho (5.3/9 HH rating, 7.77M viewers, 2.1/7 A18-49 rating) failed to rebound in any major sort of way. Though there was a slight uptick among households, it lost more ground among viewers, and adults 18-49, where it was tied for a disappointing last place on the hour. As you can see from the numbers below (and more in a moment), from beginning to end, the series lost 3.89M viewers, 30% of households and 34% of its A18-49 audience. As has been talked about frequently in the past, the loss of viewership seems to be the fault of the mid-season break. Ratings show that before the break, the series was still doing well: 11/29/2006 — 6.3/10 HH rating, 10.25M viewers and a 3.1/9 A18-49 rating, it was down only slightly from its premiere (only 3% among the key A18-49 demo), but everything fell apart when it returned in February: February 27: 5.5/9 HH rating, 8.30M viewers and a 2.3/6 rating among adults 18-49. The show never regained that lost audience, and as you can see, actually lost a tad bit more. So what does the future hold? There were rumors that CBS was going to pick up the show, but nothing has been confirmed yet. Odds are if it does return, it’ll return in a different time slot and most likely, day. We’ll know for sure in the upcoming week.

Season premiere to finale comparison (9/20/2006):

Households – 7.6/12 to 5.3/9

Viewers – 11.66M to 7.77M

Adults 18-49 – 3.4/10 to 2.1/7

Week-to-week numbers:

Households – 5.0/9 to 5.3/9

Viewers – 8.03M to 7.77M

Adults 18-49 – 2.2/7 to 2.1/7

9:00 p.m.: Criminal Minds (8.3/13 HH rating, 12.82M viewers, 3.5/9 A18-49 rating) stayed consistent week-to-week, but we can safely say that the post Super Bowl positioning failed. To reflect back on it, that Super Bowl episode had the following numbers: 15.1/26 HH rating, 26.31M viewers and a 10.0/25 A18-49 rating. Then the following Wednesday (2/7/2007), the conclusion to the two-parter drew these numbers: 11.0/16 HH rating, 17.23M viewers and a 5.1/12 A18-49 rating. Nope, it just didn’t work. Ratings are right back to where they were before the Super Bowl episode (1/17/2007 — 8.3/12 HH rating, 12.99M viewers and a 3.3/8 A18-49 rating).

Week-to-week numbers:

Households – 8.5/13 to 8.3/13

Viewers – 13.28M to 12.82M

Adults 18-49 – 3.5/9 to 3.5/9

10:00 p.m.: CSI: NY (8.3/14 HH rating, 12.69M viewers, 3.6/10 A18-49 rating) narrowly won the hour among households and viewers, but had to settle for second for the hour among adults 18-49. Positively though, was consistency from its lead-in, growing slightly among A18-49, despite the weekly decline.

Week-to-week numbers:

Households – 8.5/14 to 8.3/14

Viewers – 13.00M to 12.69M

Adults 18-49 – 3.8/10 to 3.6/10

ABC finished in third place for the evening with a 4.7/8 household rating, 7.49 million viewers and a 3.0/9 rating among adults 18-49.

Last Week:

Households – 4.8/8 rating [#3]

Viewers – 7.52 million [#3]

A18-49 – 3.0/8 rating [#3]

8:00 p.m.: According to Jim (4.1/7 HH rating, 6.32M viewers, 2.3/8 A18-49 rating) was followed by Notes From the Underbelly (3.8/6 HH rating, 5.78M viewers, 2.3/7 A18-49 rating) and both shows stayed fairly consistent from the week prior. Even still, this was a series low among households and viewers for Notes from the Underbely. Doesn’t appear to be a big deal though, as ABC is rumored to picked the show up for a reduced 13 episode order.

Week-to-week numbers (According to Jim):

Households – 4.4/8 to 4.1/7

Viewers – 6.40M to 6.32M

Adults 18-49 – 2.2/7 to 2.3/8

Week-to-week numbers (Notes From the Underbelly):

Households – 4.1/7 to 3.8/6

Viewers – 6.00M to 5.78M

Adults 18-49 – 2.3/7 to 2.3/7

9:00 & 9:30 p.m.: Repeats of According to Jim (3.0/5 HH rating, 4.60M viewers, 1.9/3 A18-49 rating) and George Lopez (2.8/4 HH rating, 4.46M viewers, 1.9/5 A18-49 rating) performed well enough for the entire, given their encore nature. There was nice growth in the hour among A18-49, as you can see from the numbers below.

Last weeks numbers (Lost-REPEAT):

Households – 2.7/4

Viewers – 4.02M

Adults 18-49 – 1.4/4

10:00 p.m.: Lost (7.2/12 HH rating, 11.89M viewers, 4.9/13 A18-49 rating) was down a smidgen from last week, but still dominant for the hour among A18-49. Well, at least the episodes are damn good now hey? What an amazing rollercoaster these final episodes of the season have been. They seem to be getting better and better as we head for what is going to be one hell of a cliffhanger (or so we’ve been led to believe).

Week-to-week numbers:

Households – 7.4/12 to 7.2/12

Viewers – 12.33M to 11.89M

Adults 18-49 – 5.3/14 to 4.9/13

NBC followed in fourth place for the evening with a 4.2/7 household rating, 6.15 million viewers and a 2.1/6 rating among adults 18-49.

9:00 p.m.: As it heads toward its series finale, Crossing Jordan (3.7/6 HH rating, 5.39M viewers, 1.5/4 A18-49 rating) also dipped week-to-week, turning in a disappointing last place (#t4) finish for the hour among A18-49.

The CW finished in fifth place with a 2.7/4 household rating, 3.95 million viewers and a 1.9/6 rating among adults 18-49.

Last Week:

Households – 2.8/4 rating [#5]

Viewers – 4.24 million [#5]

Adults 18-49 – 1.9/5 rating [#5]

8:00 p.m.: America’s Next Top Model (3.5/6 HH rating, 4.94M viewers, 2.4/8 A18-49 rating) remained its consistent self. Despite its low overall viewership, it managed a strong second place finish for the hour among A18-49.

Note: Comparison’s from the week prior (or episode-to-episode, etc.) are based on final nationals. Ratings for the current day are based on fast nationals, unless otherwise noted. The final rating for episodes that aired this evening will be reported the following week. So for example, the final rating for tonights episode of “American Idol” will be reported in next weeks report for Wednesday, May 16, 2007.

Also keep in mind that because these are fast national ratings, numbers may increase or decrease when the final nationals are released.